Universal Studios Hollywood - TR March 2023 (VIP Tour)

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I mentioned in another thread i'd just returned from a trip to California, and while we were there, we did the Universal Studios VIP Tour. I also said that now i've done it, i'd probably never visit the park again without it, and I thought i'd go into some detail as to why. (Your mileage may vary). I've read some of my thoughts below as i've drafted this, and i'm conscious this comes off like a paid #ad. I can assure you that this isn't sponsored, and i'm just that impressed with the product that i'll happily spruik it for free.

I should add that i've included some photos here where i had them, but we mainly just enjoyed the day and didn't take a lot of photos - plus the photos you see on the USH website are far better illustrations of the experience than i could ever do.

This is the current link to the experience

Pricing \ Costs - First up - the economics. A lot of people said to us it was expensive. Others just told us to do two days in park to save money. We had an extra day planned in our itinerary in case we needed it as we stupidly booked a trip right in the middle of spring break. 

1 day general admission is posted at "from $109" and the VIP experience as "from $369" though these prices can vary on the day.

I can't remember the day ticket price when we booked, but the current pricing on the website for this friday 14th April is showing $149 for a day ticket. Universal Express is an additional $160 per ticket and gives a one-shot express to included rides, attractions and shows (excludes Mario Kart). The express pass also gives you a one-time entry (without reservation) into Nintendo land. All up, this is $309. You can also add 'early access' to nintendo land - one hour prior to park open - for an additional $20, so your single day entry with these perks comes to $329.

On the same day, the VIP pass is currently selling for $489 - an extra $160 on top - however the perks you receive for this additional price are absolutely worth it - and i'll cover these below.

The Experience

We decided to book our experience first thing - a 7:30 timeslot was the earliest available, and this meant we would have our VIP pass for use throughout the park for the entire day. Our first inclusion of the day was free Valet parking at Jurassic Valet (located inside CityWalk) so we were able to drive into the garage, drop the keys and start our day. Valet runs you $50 per car for the day, so as a single this is a huge value to your VIP experience, but as a group arriving in the same car, the value does diminish somewhat.

After clearing bag check, we proceeded to the VIP entrance to the side of the main gate, where our parking ticket was immediately validated, we were checked in, given our VIP passes for the day, and escorted upstairs into a private dining area for a light breakfast (included).  Breakfast included pastries, fruit, yoghurt, cereal, coffee, juice etc, and there were several 'travellable' items you could pop in your bag to munch on later. It was on par with a 'very nice' hotel breakfast that you'd pay in the realm of $25pp for. The entire facility was filled with cool behind the scenes pictures, and movie props, award statues, etc. 

Our VIP host - Donna - met our group of 10 (about 3 different family groups) and took us aside to explain how she intended to run the day, plus usual housekeeping. We discussed what everyone was looking to tick off today, and those who wanted to dine inside Nintendo land were given a QR code to make their reservations early avoiding disappointment.

Donna was absolutely incredible as a host all day and I cannot sing her praises enough for the experience she gave my family throughout the entire day. We then set off through the park alongside a second tour group (most groups are paired for some experiences) and shoutout to Michelle who was our other guide that day for her awesome hosting skills also.

We passed through the rope-drop-queueing guests with ease, and as the 7:30 tour we got to experience something few people get to see - an entirely empty Hogsmeade and Springfield. We paused for photos before pressing on into the studio tour.

Unlike the standard 6-car tour trams, our tram was a single vehicle, well appointed with luxury seats, onboard drinks cooler, and plenty of space for all, and we begun our tour early in the day. While the standard studio tour takes about an hour non-stop, the VIP tour can take more than 90 minutes, as the tour stops at various points to let you step out and explore the sets - On our tour we explored the crashed 747 from War of the Worlds, "little europe" and sets from 'The Good Place' (NBC\Netflix).

We also toured the prop department, and did the usual tour experiences including Kong, Jaws, F&TF, Earthquake, etc - although as our tram was only one car long, our driver would sometimes reverse back down the stage to prolong the experience for us. Unfortunately an advertised highlight of the tour - the Hill Valley \ town square set - was closed for filming the latest season of American Ninja Warrior (boo!)

I should add that you are allowed to take whatever photos and videos you like while walking the sets - only the prop department forbids photos!

After our studio tour, we took a back door entry into Hogsmeade, and bee-lined for Hippogriff. The tour guides are familiar visitors to the ride operators and they immediately cleared a path for our group to board the next train. The hosts try to group the VIPs into as few carriages as possible so they don't add to the wait more than necessary, and it was great to see Ops and the hosts working together to make things as smooth as possible. 

The hosts waited at the exit to the ride, captured the photocards for on-ride photos and distributed them to the groups on exit. They were great at engaging with each guest about their experiences, their thoughts on particular rides, especially for the kids in the group (3 total). They also carried bags and other loose items, though in hindsight, a backpack is definitely not needed whilst on the tour.

We moved immediately to Forbidden Journey, and through clever doors were able to walk right to the front of the line with ease. Again, Ops worked well to accommodate us and we were on in moments. It was my first time riding and it was an impressive experience to say the least.

We moved onto Despicable Me (another backdoor trick to get right to the front) before finally breaking for lunch at Moulin Rouge. This place is set up for private VIP dining, overlooking the San Fernando Valley, with chef prepared buffet lunch offering something for even the fussiest eaters - salads, carvery meats, seafood, pasta, pizza, kids options, plenty of sweets and pastry options, gelato by the scoop, hotplate cookies, cooked to order scampi - the works. Plenty of drinks options as well as a charging station with plugs to suit literally any device you can fit in your pocket. I'd have happily paid $50USD per person for this and still think I got a bargain. They even had private bathrooms with luxurious fitouts that were probably nicer spaces than anywhere else in the park! Dining also had guest characters appear (Doc Brown made his appearance during our lunch), and a very generous hour was allotted for us to enjoy our lunch, relax, and decompress from the bustle of the park. Some of our group took the extended break to ride Simpsons, and returned about 10 minutes late to the meet up point (don't be that guy).

We met outside Secret Life of Pets, and again, a very secret backdoor put us right to the front of the line. (Many of these backdoors can't be used without a host present). Given our early start, our lunch had concluded before midday and so by noon we had done everything topside other than Simpsons (we'd be skipping this during the tour but were free to come back after our host had finished for the day). So it was time to head down the hill.

Coming down the hill it was clear the spring break crowds had arrived. 

(Remember, this was only just midday - it got more crowded by mid-afternoon).

We quickly hit Mummy, Transformers, and Jurassic. Everything continued to be an absolute walk-on despite the ever-lengthening queues around us. The tour provided a plastic poncho for Jurassic, though it was a hot day and not really needed. We ticked these off, again our host captured our ride photo for us and had it ready as we exited, allowing us to move onto the next experience. 

Now, by this point, I think you'd have to agree that it's a finely balanced thing as to whether this is worth the extra $160. Sure, it was a great lunch, and the parking and breakfast adds some value, but as inclusions, it's still a little short unless you can put a value on the walk around experiences in the backlot. If you'd put a price on these extras and charged them separately, some folks would happily pay them and some wouldn't, so at this point, the VIP is not for everyone.

Until this point.

Donna explained that Nintendo Land was the one challenge to her job. That for all the express, vip, special doors, Nintendo was still too new, and too busy to be quick. She explained that on quiet days, she can get her group into Mario Kart in around half an hour, but that she had had it take longer than 80 minutes. We were stood outside the exit to Transformers, and at this, curiosity got the better of me, and I started a stopwatch. 

Donna lead us from Transformers to the 'queues'. This morass of people were queueing to get admission at their reservation time. every half hour, another group would add to the queue. Beside them, the express lane. These were the folk who got a one-time entry into the land once per day. they were being admitted only as fast as they could be scanned in, by a single express lane operator. 

Then there was Donna. With her hand raised in the air for our group to follow, she marched confidently through the masses. Politely but assertively weaving through the groups, picking her path well in advance from years of experience in theme parks, the cast manning the scanners recognised her coming, and cleared a path for us the last few metres. We paused only long enough to be scanned into the land, and then proceeded straight into the Warp pipe. We came out the other side to be smacked in the face by how incredible the land is, (and how full of people it was). Donna tells us that the land has had to be evacuated twice today (once because someone in the MarioKart queue pulled a fire alarm) so it's busier than usual. and you can tell. 

We head straight into Mario Kart, sidestep a small barrier and we're into the express lane, rushing past miles of switchbacks in a blur barely long enough to register the theme inside each room before pressing on. And here is where we start to see why it takes so long to get through the ride. It's been about 6 minutes since we left transformers, but now we hit the first pre-show - how the gameplay works. Its unavoidable (and necessary to enjoy it) so we stall while we wait for the room to fill and the pre-show to play. Donna passes down to our group not to stop in the next room for helmets - she will have them for us and we need to press on into the next queue area. We do so and skip another good chunk of humanity all trying to collect their mario hats. We pause again on the stairs, and she passes out the helmets. We can finally see the load station, and we're close. As soon as we round the corner, Donna waves to an op on station, and again the path opens before us. Next minute we're on the ride, and its over before you know it. We unload, and exit Bowser's castle. It's been 46 minutes, and Donna has excelled at her job once again. On a day when Mario Kart was posting a 180 minute ride wait time, 46 minutes to enter the land and get off the ride was insane, and more than makes up whatever dollar value you felt was lacking in the pricetag for this experience!

At this point in the day, our tour is over. Donna has seen us get onto every attraction in the park except The Simpsons, and it's barely 1:30 in the afternoon. Before leaving, Donna recapped with every party the things they had wanted to get done on the day, and confirmed these had been done or that plans were in place. She provided showtimes for Waterworld, the light show for Hogwarts (and even mentioned showtimes that were not advertised, but would happen today due to the high crowds). And at this point, I was satisfied we'd had our money's worth.

But it wasn't over yet. The park is open until 10pm, so we have more than 8 hours left in our day to explore on our own. She has shown us every special entrance we can use (and even a few special code words to use in places like Ollivanders) to skip the line. Unlike the standard express pass you can buy with your one-day ticket, the VIP pass is unlimited express, and you can literally marathon the same ride all day long without waiting if you chose. 

The rest of our day was largely free-play. We knocked Jurassic and Mummy out a couple times, and spent a bit of time exploring Nintendo land \ Mario Kart. We headed up the hill to do Simpsons, and then went back into Hogsmeade to do Hippogriff and Journey a few more times. We wandered around the upper lot just taking things in, shopping and taking some photos before Waterworld started. Although we still had several hours left, we were heading out the gates around 7pm, happy with the day we'd had and without needing to spend the additional 3 (increasingly freezing) hours in the park. (LA was seeing an unseasonably cold spring, and there was still snow on the nearby mountain ranges).

Valet collection was also painless and quick and we were back onto the freeway in no time.

So ends the VIP experience review!

 

 

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**I do want to add one thing - my Son had had a popcorn bucket at the park he'd been asking for most of the day. I'd gotten it before Waterworld, but we had stopped at the photo counter to ensure all our photos for the day were captured. Somewhere along the way it had gotten misplaced, and only missed once we were at the Valet. It had been the one thing he had asked for that day, and not wanting to disappoint, I went back into the park to retrace our steps, but neither the photobooth nor the main Universal store had seen it. I tried to see if I could just buy another one but they all appeared to be sold out. The Universal store directed me to guest services, and I walked in not expecting much. 

The GS cast member who greeted me was great. Admittedly we'd had a long couple of days and I got a little emotional about this damn popcorn bucket as it was the one thing he'd liked and asked for as a souvenir. The GS cast (I'm appalled I cannot recall her name) brought me into a waiting room, got me some water, confirmed exactly what bucket it was, and then left. In less than ten minutes, she returned, with a replacement item in hand, as well as a giant bag of freshly cooked popcorn. 

We'd been at SFMM the day prior and experienced really poor service all round (which is kinda par for the SF course) but I honestly hadn't expected Universal to go this far outside of the VIP experience and this gesture by the GS cast member genuinely surprised and touched me. 

All round, while I still think Disney's long standing attractions have got Universal beat - the gap is far FAR closer than it ever used to be. However on levels of service - Universal (in my opinion) is now beating Disney in terms of simple guest experience. At some point, i'll get around to putting my thoughts down on the other parks we visited (this has taken at least 2 hours already) but overall I couldn't be happier with our time at Universal and will gladly pay the same again to have that level of experience, but I added this last point to demonstrate that Universal's service extends beyond the premium payer into a level that they genuinely care about each and every guest's experience in the park, as it should be (and to the nameless GS cast member I cannot remember the name of, thankyou again for saving our day!)

[Brad2912]

Thanks for this detailed break down. I’d always considered the vip tour to be a definite want when we get the chance to head over there, your review has confirmed to me it’s a must and to be just incorporated into the pre trip budget.

 

sounds like you all had a wow of a day! 

[Dean Barnett]

The VIP there is very popular - so I can see it selling out pretty regularly in the peak season (it was when I was there early spring break). I saw an entire birthday party with 15 adults and kids using it. 

It’s interesting they don’t skip the preshow with instructions for Mario, when the single rider line does. 
 

To note - single rider at the park is pretty rad. Transformers is always a walk on, Jurassic world is about a 5 min wait, Forbidden journey is usually walk on - the worst performing one is Mummy.  

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

12 hours ago, Brad2912 said:

Thanks for this detailed break down. I’d always considered the vip tour to be a definite want when we get the chance to head over there, your review has confirmed to me it’s a must and to be just incorporated into the pre trip budget.

 

sounds like you all had a wow of a day! 

Honestly for the overseas travellers that have 1 day to spend in the park, it's a slam dunk no brainer - we felt so relaxed throughout this day - there was no rushing, and best of all no standing in line. It'd still be worth doing on quieter days - you'd just get more rides in with less crowds.

11 hours ago, Dean Barnett said:

The VIP there is very popular - so I can see it selling out pretty regularly in the peak season (it was when I was there early spring break). I saw an entire birthday party with 15 adults and kids using it. 

It’s interesting they don’t skip the preshow with instructions for Mario, when the single rider line does. 
 

To note - single rider at the park is pretty rad. Transformers is always a walk on, Jurassic world is about a 5 min wait, Forbidden journey is usually walk on - the worst performing one is Mummy.  

The pricing I provided in my post was still offering VIP for friday (two days away). it was however sold out for Thursday (today) which is understandable, and bear in mind that's still in the midst of their spring break. 

As for Mario, Donna did ask if everyone had done the ride before, so it's possible we didn't skip it so that we all got the instructions on how to play, and she may have skipped it if we all knew what we were doing... I can only assume.

As for the single rider lines (if you use them) they are obviously a lot quicker - but the walkons you're referring to were certainly not the case on our visit. In some cases our group were lead down the single rider line as it was deemed a shorter line than the standard express lines, but we were still lead past a group of more than 50 people in some cases. Single Rider can pay off handsomely for the right attraction, but some rides just don't lend themselves well to single rider due to the nature of the ride vehicle.

Personally i'd rather visit a park with friends or family and enjoy the time together.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

23 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

and to the nameless GS cast member I cannot remember the name of, thankyou again for saving our day!)

I knew I’d written it down somewhere and I just found it - the Guest Services Superstar was named Tiffany.

thanks Tiffany!